Sir Mick Jagger greeted the crowd in Hebrew as the Rolling Stones took to the stage to play their first ever gig in Israel on Wednesday night (05Jun14). The veteran rockers defied protesters who urged them to cancel the show in Tel Aviv as part of a pro-Palestinian boycott by performing the gig as scheduled.
The start time had been pushed back to 9.15pm (local time) in the days before the show to avoid clashing with the religious holiday of Shavuot. The concert had previously been scheduled to begin just minutes after the holiday's end at 8.30pm.
Jagger embraced the historic moment as he stepped on stage by shouting "Good evening, Happy Shavuot, Israel" in Hebrew, according to The Times of Israel.
The singer showed off several more Hebrew phrases during the gig.
The bandmembers arrived in the country on Monday (02Jun14) and visited a number of tourist destinations before their big show at Hayarkon Park.

A movie detailing the story of Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' notorious 1967 drugs bust is in the works. The Rolling Stones stars were arrested following a police raid on Richards' Sussex estate, and they were both convicted of drug charges and handed prison sentences, which were subsequently lifted.
The pair was represented by legal heavyweight Sir Michael Havers, father of British actor Nigel Havers, and the screen star is now working on a movie project based on his father's famous case.
Havers, who was a teenage schoolboy at the time of the Rolling Stones court battle, has a script in place and is looking for funding to get the project off the ground, according to Britain's Daily Mail.
The actor says, "When my father defended Mick and Keith, it was the first major celebrity drugs case. They came to our flat and I got to know them. But I was sworn to secrecy. I couldn't tell my school friends because it would sound as if I was showing off."

Bruce Springsteen gave Portuguese rock fans real value for money on Thursday night (29May14) when he joined the Rolling Stones onstage in Lisbon. The Boss hit the stage to perform Tumbling Dice with Mick Jagger and his bandmates during their headlining set at the Rockin’ Rio Lisboa festival.
It seems Springsteen is a fan of the tune - he joined the Stones onstage to perform Tumblin' Dice during the band's 50th anniversary dates at the end of 2012.
The Lisbon gig is the second on the band's resumed 14 on Fire tour, which was halted in March (14) following the death of Jagger's designer girlfriend L'Wren Scott.

Sir Mick Jagger has become the latest star to voice support for Metallica as the rockers prepare to headline Britain's iconic Glastonbury festival for the first time. Jagger's band The Rolling Stones were the big draw at the 2013 event, and this year's (14) festival will feature a Saturday night set by the metal legends.
Metallica's inclusion on the bill has sparked much debate, with many critics insisting heavy metal has no place at the famed festival, which also features acts such as Lily Allen, Ed Sheeran, Arcade Fire and Kasabian.
However, last year's (13) headliner Jagger is convinced Metallica will win over the critics, telling Britain's The Sun newspaper, "I've seen them live and they're going to be great (at Glastonbury)."
Glastonbury's Sunday night headline act Kasabian have previously thrown their support behind Metallica.

The Rolling Stones have been crowned the kings of the live stage after grossing more than $1.56 billion from their concerts in the past 24 years. Billboard magazine editors have polled the 25 biggest touring acts since 1990 and the Brown Sugar hitmakers, who are currently on their 14 On Fire world tour, have come out on top, playing a total of 538 shows to more than 19.67 million people around the world.
Irish rockers U2 place second on the Top Live Artists list, banking $1.51 billion over 526 gigs, while Bruce Springsteen comes in third with $1.19 billion over 727 shows.
Madonna and Bon Jovi round out the top five, while Elton John, Celine Dion, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Metallica and Coldplay also feature in the survey.

The Rolling Stones resumed their 14 On Fire world tour in Norway on Monday night (26May14) two months after the death of Mick Jagger's designer girlfriend halted the band's trek in Australia. The rockers postponed their shows Down Under following L'Wren Scott's suicide in March (14) and Jagger jetted to Los Angeles to arrange his longtime lover's funeral.
The Stones have been off the road ever since, but they received a hero's welcome when the band took the stage at Oslo's Telenor Arena on Monday.
The gig came hours after guitarist Ronnie Wood became a grandfather for the eighth time - he learned his daughter Leah had delivered a healthy baby boy as he prepared for the show. And Jagger had babies on his mind too - his granddaughter Assisi recently gave birth to the rocker's great-grandchild.
The frontman thrilled the 23,000 fans in Oslo by trying out a little Norwegian at the top of the show as he thanked them for coming.
The concert was the band's first show in the country since 2007.
Jagger and his bandmates now head to Portugal for a headlining show at the Rock in Rio festival on Thursday (29May14). The band wraps up its 14-date European tour at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on 3 July (14).

Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood is celebrating following the birth of his eighth grandchild on Monday (26May14). The musician's daughter, Leah Wood, and her husband Jack MacDonald welcomed a little brother for their daughter Maggie, who turns five on Wednesday (28May14).
Sharing the news with fans on Twitter.com, the rock veteran writes, "Congratulations to my daughter @MsLeahWood and Jack & Maggie ~ Baby 'Otis Sonny David MacDonald' was born today!"
Leah is Ronnie's daughter from his marriage to Jo Wood; she has been married to financier MacDonald since 2008.
The baby news comes a week after it was revealed bandmate Mick Jagger had become a great-grandfather following the birth of his granddaughter Assisi's baby girl.

The Rolling Stones' longtime former manager has died at the age of 80. Prince Rupert Loewenstein died early on Tuesday (20May14) after a long illness.
The Bavarian aristocrat, who was born Prince Rupert Ludwig Ferdinand zu Loewenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, served as the rock legends' business manager and financial advisor from 1968 to 2007.
He is widely credited with helping the Stones turn their fortunes around from a band on the brink of bankruptcy in 1968 to the multi-million dollar money-making machine it is today, but he angered frontman Mick Jagger last year (13) when he released his memoir, titled A Prince Among Stones.
The book detailed how the rockers became tax exiles in France in a bid to protect their fortune and spilled the beans on their income and spending habits.

Rock veteran Sir Mick Jagger is a great-grandfather. The Rolling Stones frontman's granddaughter Assisi has given birth to a baby girl, according to Hellomagazine.com. No further details have been revealed.
The tot is the 21 year old's first child with her chef boyfriend Alex Key. The arrival means Assisi's mum, socialite and jewellery designer Jade Jagger, is a grandmother at 42. She is also currently expecting a child. The pair celebrated in March (14) with a joint baby shower.
The birth is some happy news for the Jagger clan, which was rocked following the suicide of Mick's longtime girlfriend L'Wren Scott in March (14).

Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood is selling a nude painting of his wife Sally Humphreys for $320,000 (£200,000). The risque portrait, which shows his third wife completely naked, is on display at the Castle Fine Art gallery in London, where the rocker is exhibiting his Raw Instinct collection.
The canvas, simply titled 'Sally', is the most expensive piece in the display, with a price tag of $320,000. Other works, centring around his music career, range in price from $16,000 (£10,000) to $80,000 (£50,000).
Humphreys posed for Wood in his studio at the gallery, and the guitarist says, "We always have fun together, Sall's (sic) great at modelling. There's plenty more, we did some more recently in the Seychelles."